Dumaguete City National High School (DCNHS) conducted a full-scale active-shooter simulation exercise on its campus in partnership with the Philippine National Police–Dumaguete City, as schools across the country step up safety and emergency-preparedness measures in the wake of a deadly campus shooting in Tacloban City last month.
The drill combined a structured orientation on active-shooter awareness and emergency protocols with a live simulation designed to measure how quickly learners, teachers, non-teaching personnel, and other stakeholders can react and coordinate under a simulated threat.
What the Drill Covered
Participants first went through a comprehensive briefing on threat awareness and step-by-step response procedures before the scenario was run in real time, according to the Schools Division Office of Dumaguete City. The full-scale simulation then put those protocols to the test, measuring the coordinated response of the entire school community and exposing preparedness gaps that classroom lectures alone cannot reveal.
The exercise was led by DCNHS under Principal III Dr. Claudio A. Sun Jr., in coordination with PNP–Dumaguete City, headed by Chief of Police P/Col. Don Richmon T. Conag.
Division-Wide Safety Commitment Drives the Exercise
The drill was carried out under the Schools Division Office of Dumaguete City, led by Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Edmark Ian L. Cabio, CESO VI, as part of its ongoing school-safety and emergency-preparedness initiatives.
The division framed the exercise within the PEACE Initiative of DepEd Negros Island Region — Powering Empathy, Acceptance, and Connection Every Day — which anchors school safety in building caring, connected, and resilient school communities where every learner and personnel feels protected and valued.
Tacloban Shooting Triggers Nationwide Campus-Security Push
The DCNHS drill is a direct response to a nationwide directive following the June 22 shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, which left three students dead and approximately 20 others injured. The attack — carried out by two minor students — is among the rarest of its kind recorded in the country.
The incident prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Education Secretary Sonny Angara, and PNP leadership to order tighter campus protocols, security assessments, and increased police visibility around schools nationwide, according to reports from the Department of Education.
DepEd Acknowledges Need for Stricter Safety Policies
DepEd has maintained that the Tacloban attack and other recent incidents of school violence remain isolated cases, but the department has acknowledged the need for stricter implementation of safety policies and closer coordination with parents and law enforcement.
Measures being rolled out nationwide include school safety audits, controlled entry and exit points, bag inspections, and closer school-police coordination — the precise type of readiness the DCNHS drill was designed to build and test.
Officials Cite Culture of Preparedness and Shared Responsibility
The Schools Division Office thanked the leadership of DCNHS, the PNP, partner agencies, and all participants for their collaboration in promoting a culture of preparedness, vigilance, resilience, and shared responsibility in keeping schools safe.
Officials said the exercise reflects DepEd's vision of schools where every learner can thrive in an environment that is not only conducive to learning but also rooted in empathy, acceptance, connection, and safety.
By the Numbers
- 3 — Students killed in the June 22 shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City
- ~20 — Others injured in the same Tacloban campus shooting incident
- 2 — Minor students identified as perpetrators of the Tacloban attack
- June 22 — Date of the Tacloban City school shooting that triggered the nationwide safety directive
Why This Matters
The DCNHS active-shooter drill represents a concrete local implementation of the national directive issued after the deadliest campus shooting the Philippines has seen in recent memory, translating a top-level government order into practiced, school-level readiness. By testing protocols under live simulation conditions, the exercise identifies real gaps in emergency response that written policies and lectures cannot surface. The activity also signals that school safety in the region is now a shared responsibility between DepEd, local law enforcement, and the entire school community — not a concern left to administrators alone.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Schools Division Office of Dumaguete City